Arguments abound at BU Debate Tournament
VESTAL, N.Y. -- Welcome to the fast-talking world of varsity policy debate. No letterman jackets, but there definitely is an element of the athletic.
"It takes a driven person, someone with an absolutely huge ego, because you have to have a huge ego to want to participate in something like this," said Alan Ostrovsky, a Binghamton University senior debater.
This year's Binghamton University tournament drew more than 300 participants over the weekend from 28 different universities.
But for people outside the debating world, this may seem like an odd way to spend your day off.
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
"I think the perception is it's a lot of crazy people, speaking really fast on a weekend," said Shane Agici, the University of Vermont debate coach.
But you might be surprised at who's willing to wake up at 7 a.m. for the honor of arguing the merits of ontology, fascism or the Bush Doctrine.
"We get a lot of people who are former sports stars who are injured and looking for something to challenge their mind," said Joe Leeson-Schatz, the Binghamton University debate director.
It takes a pretty special kind of person to give up their weekend just to argue. So the question is: Why do it?
"The intensity of the activity allows students to to be able to figure out how to engage with others in an academic format at a high speed. That allows them to function better in the normal world, because they're used to engaging people in arguments," said Leeson-Schatz.
Most debaters end up going into politics, law or academics, but for those on a different track, it can help broaden the way you see the world.
"Maybe there's an order from higher up that you agree with or don't agree with, debate allows you to analyze: Maybe there's a valid reason as to why that order's coming down whether or not you agree with it," said Derrick Jerke, a junior at the U.S. Military.
Debaters can speak 400-500 words per minute, so in case you missed it, the topic for this tournament was U.S. federal policy towards agricultural subsidies.
Binghamton University is currently ranked second in the nation on the cross-examination debate circuit and was the top finisher last year.